I am giving away 50 ebook copies of my novel “Love Is the Punch Line” in return for reviews on Goodreads and/or Amazon. It’s a romance set in the world of stand-up comedy. If you want a copy, please email me at joneslepidas@bell.net. ONLY UNTIL AUGUST 31, 2018!

Synopsis: Middle-aged stand-up comedian Josh Steinberg, the “Jewish Comedy King” and formerly the star of his own popular TV series, finds himself struggling to keep his career alive, playing seedier and seedier clubs. Plump, balding, and plain-looking, he has never had much luck with women. That is, until Josh meets Holly Brannigan while performing his stand-up act in a club. Holly, an attractive, intelligent, and divorced 50-year-old businesswoman, becomes instantly smitten with Josh and even finds his unconventional looks wildly sexy.

The Toronto Zoo: Thousands and thousands of animals of every size, shape, and species from all over the globe, presented in realistic approximations of their natural habitats. The trails criss-crossing the zoo provide a fun and entertaining workout for hikers.

The reasonable cost of housing: According to the Toronto Real Estate Board’s June 2018 report, the average cost of a home in central Toronto was a hefty $1.4 million. In east Toronto (Scarborough), it was a far more reasonable $601,255,241.

Wildlife: Scarborough is home to a wide variety of wild animals and birds. Canada geese, groundhogs, blue jays, gold finches, cardinals, brown rabbits, raccoons, squirrels, and foxes have all been spotted on the suburban streets around Eglinton and Victoria Park.

Scarborough Bluffs: The Scarborough Bluffs are breathtakingly beautiful. You can picnic, hike, and enjoy the scenery near the lake. It’s a great escape from a busy and noisy city.

Shopping: Scarborough is a great place to shop for everyday essentials. It offers a wide range of big-box stores, such as Walmart, the Brick, and Home Outfitters. The malls, especially Scarborough Town Centre, have a decent selection of chain stores.

I am giving away 50 ebook copies of my novel Love Is the Punch Line in return for reviews on Goodreads and/or Amazon. It’s a romance set in the world of stand-up comedy. If you want a copy, please email me at joneslepidas@bell.net. ONLY UNTIL AUGUST 31, 2018!

Synopsis: Middle-aged stand-up comedian Josh Steinberg, the “Jewish Comedy King” and formerly the star of his own popular TV series, finds himself struggling to keep his career alive, playing seedier and seedier clubs. Plump, balding, and plain-looking, he has never had much luck with women. That is, until Josh meets Holly Brannigan while performing his stand-up act in a club. Holly, an attractive, intelligent, and divorced 50-year-old businesswoman, becomes instantly smitten with Josh and even finds his unconventional looks wildly sexy.

Kathleen Jones, author of Love Is the Punch Line, recently celebrated the release of her novel at a launch party. At the event, held at Bloor-Gladstone public library in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, on June 9, 2018, Kathleen talked about her journey to become a published author, then did a brief reading from her novel. She was joined by a dozen friends and colleagues, including Jenny Govier, the novel’s substantive and line editor.

Once again I’m finding whole new books and authors here on Linda’s Book Bag. This time it’s Kathleen Jones who joins me to stay in and tell me about one of her books.

Staying in with Kathleen Jones

Welcome to Linda’s Book Bag Kathleen. Thank you for staying in with me.

Tell me, which of your books have you brought along to share this evening and why have you chosen it?

I’ve brought along my new novel, Love Is the Punch Line, which was published by Moonshine Cove in April. It’s a quirky, lighthearted romance set in the world of stand-up comedy. I brought it along to show “women of a certain age” that romance should not stop after age 40.

(Too right! As someone fast approaching 60 I can quite agree with that premise for a book!)

What can we expect from an evening in with Love Is the Punch Line?

You can expect an evening of hilarious comedy from a real legend, Josh Steinberg, the “Jewish Comedy King.” Even though he’s over 50, plump, balding, and washed up, Josh is still revered by die-hard comedy fans, who appreciate his edgy sense of humour.

You’ll also meet Josh’s woman, Holly Brannigan, a slim, attractive, and bright 50-year-old businesswoman. Unlike the other women in Josh’s past who haven’t treated him well, the smart and sensitive Holly is crazy about Josh and even finds his unconventional looks wildly sexy. No wonder Josh calls her “Holly the Brain.”

(I’m smiling already. I love the sound of Josh and Holly.)

By meeting Josh, I hope that people will learn that no matter what a person looks like on the outside, he or she deserves a chance to spend their life with someone who truly loves and cares about them. And I hope that men who meet Holly will learn to value a woman’s brains, as well as her looks. After all, the brain is the biggest sex organ!

(Very true! My husband has a Ph.D!)

Finally, I hope that older people who haven’t found that special person will give romance another chance. You just never know!

(What a wonderful sentiment, Kathleen.)

What else have you brought along and why?

I brought along the script that Josh wrote for his comeback movie, It Only Hurts When I Laugh. Holly talked him into writing it, telling him that he had the talent to write a script about real life and real people; in the past, Josh had written mediocre movie scripts that were only collections of silly gags. Buoyed by her belief in him, Josh ended up writing a romantic script about two characters who resembled himself and Holly!

Thanks so much for staying in with me to tell me all about Love is the Punchline Kathleen. I’ve enjoyed hearing about Josh and Holly.

Love is the Punch Line

He courted her with punchlines.

Middle-aged stand-up comedian Josh Steinberg, formerly the star of his own popular TV series, finds himself struggling to keep his career alive, playing seedier and seedier clubs. Plump, balding, and plain-looking, he has never had much luck with women. That is, until Josh meets Holly Brannigan while performing his stand-up act in a comedy club. Holly, an attractive, intelligent, and divorced 50-year-old businesswoman, becomes instantly smitten with Josh and even finds his unconventional looks wildly sexy.

About Kathleen Jones

Kathleen Jones is a former book editor and technical writer. She graduated from the University of Toronto with a degree in English literature and completed Ryerson University’s Certificate in Publishing program. Kathleen writes for a number of popular book blogs, including Romance Junkies and the blogs of Jane Friedman and British novelist Tony Riches. She also contributes monthly book reviews to Goodreads. Kathleen lives in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.

Love is the Punch Line is a quirky romance that follows the career of stand-up comedian Josh Steinberg. I’d have to say what I appreciated the most about this story was that as much as I might have disagreed with his treatment of Holly Brannigan and their ups and downs throughout the story, everything that took place was very realistic. I even appreciated that Holly’s friends and family all felt that the situation with Josh was dysfunctional at best. We have all had that friend who made choices that made us shake our heads and make our bets on its success but somehow they work everything out, Love is the Punch Line is that kind of story.

Josh has been unlucky in love on every level, the main reason being that the only women he ever met were the kind who were looking to trade in on his fame. Of course, it was not like Josh was looking for anything beyond the glitz of Hollywood either. Now he is on the downward slope of fame and has been having one reality check after another and he is struggling not to end up as a washed-up comedian. It was during one of his comedy routines where he was feeling rather angry at the world and in particular women when he came across Holly. Although their first meeting was not love at first sight, in fact Josh had rather insulted Holly and she retaliated by throwing a drink in his face (you go, girl).

Holly had not had the best of luck with love and went to a comedy club one night in order to try and cheer herself up. She had no idea that the comedian was going to be Josh Steinberg and although she had never found him to be attractive on TV, in real life she found that she rather liked the look of the comedian. Unfortunately, his routine didn’t cheer her up at all, she found it rather upsetting to consider how hurt he had been by women. Though, when an incident occurred that brought Josh right to her, she immediately reconsidered her stance on him because he was a class “A” jerk. After their very loud and very public argument Holly pulled herself together and was preparing to leave. What she did not expect was that Josh would seek her out to offer her a slice of humble pie and apologize for his behavior. Holly herself felt that she could have handled things better as well and they both made amends and this started a conversation which would lead to a more intimate encounter.

Although both Holly and Josh were looking for love, Josh was not willing to trust that Holly was sincere in her interest in him. His self-esteem was so low that he could not conceive that someone as beautiful and kind as her could really want what he had to offer. Even though he may not have had faith in her, he did not want to let her go either. Holly for her part was willing to go to great lengths to prove to Josh that she was not like all the others, but she too had a certain point in which she felt that enough was enough. While trying to explore a serious relationship, Josh was also trying to salvage his career. With ups and downs and meltdowns in-between, Josh would learn that there was more to life than the adoration of Hollywood and that maybe, just maybe, there was more to him that he had never appreciated before.

For me, this was not a romance that would ever make me swoon. I am just not into male characters who are very sensitive and struggle with self-esteem issues but I did find Love is the Punch Line to be a refreshing romance because the choices these characters made and the issues they struggled with are very real for many people. No relationship is perfect and sometimes things can get ugly and chaotic but then there are those moments where it can be almost magical and that is what keeps the relationship going. It was also nice that this was a romance between two older adults and that careers, children, and family did come into play, especially Josh’s career which was also how he identified his success in life. A lot of times real life and every day struggles are not realistically portrayed in fiction but in Love is the Punch Line, it does not hold back the punches and I think that many readers would appreciate the ups and downs that occur on this rollercoaster of love.

This review is based on a complimentary book I received from Author, Kathleen Jones. It is an honest and voluntary review. The complimentary receipt of it in no way affected my review or rating.

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Helpful Ideas for Newbie Novelists

A lover of words who writes from the heart.
Welcome to my site! I’m a refugee from the corporate world, a lover of books, dogs, and 1940’s/1950’s vintage clothing (not necessarily in that order!), a wife and a mom . . . and, oh yeah, a novelist!
My page is a forum to share helpful ideas with other fledgling novelists. It's also a bit of a dumping ground for posts on my personal interests (like vintage clothing) that have nothing to do with writing! Finally, this is a place for YOUR ideas. Feel free to post your ideas and comments.
My first novel, a lighthearted romance set in the world of stand-up comedy, was published by Moonshine Cove in April 2018.

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